Results: Bank Policy
Lower mortgage rates, or higher bank margins?
Declines in fixed interest rates in the US have fed through to some reductions in NZ’s bank wholesale borrowing costs. Will this m...
Mortgage rates | no spring specials in sight, what’s in store for summer?
Costs for banks to borrow money have decreased. Added with the higher lending rates they provide, can banks afford to start cuttin...
Is another OCR hike needed to tame inflation?
Some forecasters believe the Reserve Bank will need to raise the official cash rate from the 5.5% level they took it to in May. Bu...
Interest rate rises to continue this year
Welcome to my first fortnightly column on mortgage rate levels and prospects in New Zealand. At the start of 2022 we can see that all fixed interest rates have in fact risen quite firmly.
Rate rises delayed but with upside risk
Borrowers could reasonably expect higher rates at their peaks, but not necessarily a faster speed of increase. Our central bank has an established long-term record of too often tightening monetary policy too slowly.
OCR remains unchanged, RBNZ to keep monetary policy steady
There's no reason for strongly believing that we face a future of sustained high inflation which will require an interest rate crunch. But borrowers should pay attention to the upside risks and the extreme uncertainty regarding how far and fast rates rise.
Why interest rates will remain low for a few years - Tony Alexander
Banks lend out about $280 billion to households for housing purchases. But they have funding from households exactly equal to $200 billion. It might pay to stop and think about that number for a moment.
